BOONE/CALLAWAY COUNTIES - APAC-Missouri, Inc., a contractor for the Missouri Department of Transportation, will begin installing median guard cable along U.S Route 63 in Boone and Callaway Counties on Thursday, April 8, weather permitting.

The median guard cable will be placed between the northbound and southbound lanes of Route 63 from Jefferson City to I-70 in Columbia. The work is being done to increase safety by reducing the potential for cross-over crashes.

One southbound lane of Route 63 will be closed to traffic during the work, which will take place between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Crews will work on a four-mile stretch at a time, beginning at Route H in Boone County and working south to Callaway County.

Once this work is complete, crews will install cable between I-70 and Route AC during overnight hours. The project also includes upgrading guard rail on various bridges along the route, and motorists should expect periodic lane closures in north and southbound lanes at these locations. The project will be complete in late summer.

The contractor will have various types of traffic control in place to secure the safety of the motoring public as well as its employees. MoDOT encourages motorists to buckle up, slow down, follow work zone signing and drive safely through the area.

Median guard cable, made of three strands of steel cable, is designed to "catch" a vehicle before it crosses into the opposing traffic lanes, bringing it to a stop before it collides with other vehicles. It's generally used where medians are 60 feet wide or less. MoDOT began using guard cable in 2002 on Interstates 70 and 44 and has since installed more than 600 miles of cable in the medians of the state's busiest highways. 

The success rate in Missouri has been significant. A study completed on Interstate 70 showed that guard cable succeeded in stopping cars from crossing into the opposing lanes of traffic more than 98 percent of the time. And, while guard cables are not designed to prevent large vehicles, such as tractor-trailers, from crossing the median, there have been numerous cases where the stretchable cable has kept large vehicles from entering the opposing lane of traffic.

For more information or for other transportation-related matters, please call 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (275-6636) or log onto www.modot.org/central. You can also follow MoDOT's Central District on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MoDOT_Central.